Blogs from Jackson, Kentucky, United States, North America

(Oakdale Christian Academy) I think I’ve mentioned how strong families (kinfolk!) are in this area; one man described it as “We don’t move away from family.” That’s probably part of their economic problems, but in Texas where we would see large cemeteries, heavily decorated, here we find small cemeteries, sometimes holding only three or four graves. They are family plots. They’ll be under a tree, or on the side of a hill, and of course the ones we notice have headstones, so I imagine all the graves do. Not just wooden crosses, but engraved stones. That speaks to the immovability of the family….who’s going to buy your house if seven of your relatives are buried in the side yard! I suspect that’s also one of the reasons for their economic problems~~people don’t relocate to find a ... read more

(Oakdale Christian Academy) October finds us in Kentucky, outside the small town of Jackson. We’re in a mountain pass deep in the Appalachians. This is coal country~~some open pit, but mostly underground mining. There’s also logging, and some tobacco grown, but not much. We’re about 1200 miles southeast of Grand Rapids, MN. We had a quick trip down here, as we drove from Mankato to just south of Cincinnati in two days. We wanted to spend a day at the Creation Museum near there, and it was certainly worth pushing hard at the beginning of the trip. It’s 7000 square feet that bring the Bible to life; with over 160 interactive exhibits, I saw creation like I’ve never thought of it before. The museum is built with what appear to be stone walls walking you ... read more

Location: Jackson, KY Date: June 28th, 2005 I’m not sure if I’m adjusting quickly to this new life style of packing up and driving somewhere new every week, or if by leaving towns I’m leaving everything behind and my mind has yet to catch up and realize how crazy what I’m doing is. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting my reaction to be, but it was definitely along the lines of weirdness and freaking out. But it still hasn’t completely hit me yet, or maybe I just adapt easily to new situations- who knows. The shows went well last week (in Cory, PA) I screwed up a few lines and songs but oh well. I also sweated up a river on stage what with the lack of AC and me in my huge bear ... read more